Swimming is not really known for having bad boys or drama
outside of the pool. Speaking as someone who views sports and consumes most
information from living in the United States, I don’t hear much from the sport.
Michael Phelps and the Summer Olympic games are the only reason, for the most
part, that my curiosity is peaked about what is going on in swimming. Yet, the
reason I dedicated a brief space and time for swimming has nothing to do with either.
Sun
Yang, a swimmer from China, won gold in the 400m freestyle event in the
championships in South Korea. Sun was caught using a performance enhancement
drug (PED). He tested positive for a banned stimulant, trimetazidine, in 2014.
Mack Horton, an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist from Rio, was not happy
with the result and did not stand on the podium along side his competitor.
Horton took silver in the race but was clearly upset that he lost to someone
who he has called a cheat in the past.
The
drama further escalated as some swimmers sided with Horton’s action on not
shaking hands or posing pictures with Sun Yang. Sun was not happy and stated
that it was unfortunate.
This
is some high-level drama considering I don’t necessarily follow swimming and
tend to be associated with the masses who only care about the sport every four
years. The reason this story piqued my interest was because of the view on
drugs within the sport by athletes. I am in the camp where I think that
athletes should be allowed to use PEDs, but in a regulated and safe manner. I am
aware that my view is not widely accepted as the ethical pathway, but I do have
reasons at the structural level of sport that shape my view. However, that
debate shall be revisited at another time.